You’ve heard them all: Life is like a box of chocolates; life is like a bowl of cherries; life is a game that must be played.
But Christine Osborne, owner of Wonder Works, a specialty toy store in Mount Pleasant and West Ashley, said, “Life is like a sandwich – we’ve got the bread and we’ve got the special sauce.”
Mass retail stores make up ‘the bread’ of a community, she explained. But the special sauce, that’s where stores like Wonder Works come in. Local businesses make up the special sauce of the community sandwich.
“We make the community what it is. Without us, it would be ‘Any Sandwich USA,’ ” Osborne said.
Throughout the economic downturn, local businesses have suffered while mass retail stores like Wal-Mart have thrived. However, it seems the tides are changing, and some truly unexpected things are coming out of the recession.
“The economy has pulled us into a type of awakening,” Osborne said.
People are focused on shopping local, businesses are stronger than they were before and people are working together to create a more sustainable community.
So far this season, Osborne’s business has grown. In October, Wonder Work’s numbers were up by 11 percent, and Osborne expects further improvement this November and December, the busiest months of the year.
Since the recession, Osborne has changed her approach as a retailer. She’s been forced to truly understand the financials of owning a business, knowing how and what to buy and keeping a close eye on expense sheets. She reads anything she can from retail magazines and trade journals. Her management team and employees have become part of her family.
Brad Pitner, owner of Coastal Cupboard, and Marshall Simon, owner of Gwynn’s, also said they were in better financial shape than last year. They, too, have tightened their belts when it comes to inventory and knowing exactly what is happening when money comes in and money goes out.
“We’ve really had to focus on areas where we were kind of guessing at before,” Pitner said. “It forces you to double-check yourself at all times.”
Simon has also had to reexamine all aspects of his business. “In a funny way, there will be definite positives that come out of this. I think all the survivors will be stronger.”
People have been pushed to become more business savvy, and in a Darwinist way, those who hone their business senses survive.
“I think a lot of business
owners have woken up,” Osborne said, whose Mount Pleasant store is entering its 19th Christmas. “If you’re making it now in this economy, which is getting better everyday, you’ve passed the test.”
However, Osborne cautions that although small businesses are aware of finances, it is not their sole focus. The focus always has been, and always will be, on the community.
Buy Local, Be Local
The Tri-County area has seen a significant shift towards local buying, thanks in a big way to Lowcountry Local First, a nonprofit that educates the public on the importance of buying local and creating an environmentally, socially and financially sustainable community. LLF, founded in 2007, is a chapter of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies that works towards a sustainable global economy, which contains a network of local sustainable economies. It currently has more than 300 members.
“I think people are becoming more aware that small businesses need our support since the recession,” said Jamee Haley, LLF executive director. “They’ve always needed it, but now we realize the great locally-owned businesses in our community may not be here if we don’t give them our support. Think of those businesses you want to see around next year and make sure you shop with them.”
LLF has recently launched the “10% Shift Campaign” encouraging all citizens of the Tri-County area to dedicate 10 percent of their annual expenses to local businesses.
This means one in every 10 purchases you make, make locally. One out of every 10 times you buy food, buy local.
If this happens, LLF says the Tri-County area can generate:
$140 million put directly into the economy
1,600 new jobs
$50 million new wages
LLF will also be hosting its third annual Buy Local Week from Nov. 30 - Dec. 6. with events including Eat Local Night and the Buy Local, Be Local Bash at Shem Creek.
In addition to pumping money directly into the community and creating jobs, Haley said supporting local business is better for the environment, requiring less transportation, and gives customers better service.
And the buy local movement is not just an idea. Concrete progress has already been made.
The organization and its members have been working with local city council members and mayors to reexamine procurement policies regarding local businesses.
Osborne, who has been asked to serve as chairwoman of the 10% Shift Campaign, said after meeting with Major Riley and city councils, Mount Pleasant passed a resolution stating that if a small business is 10 percent higher than a non-local business in a bid, that small business would get preference because the money is going back into the community.

Let’s get together
Osborne has been a key witness to the effects of a community coming together in support of one another.
She said she’s been “bombarded” by people in the community with marketing ideas and products. About 80 percent of items sold at Wonder Works are from local people and can’t be found in any other store.
“Right now, there are a lot of trained professionals such as engineers and architects who cannot find work in their traditional fields,” Osborne said. “When that happens, you find people going back to their passions.”
Currently, Wonder Works is stocked with hand-made wooden puzzles depicting the history of Charleston, complete with prominent family lines and legends. Made by a local architect, they sell for thousands online. Wonder Works can sell them for $150.
Wonder Work’s also sells pottery made by a 17-year-old boy with Down’s Syndrome. Part of the proceeds goes to the Lowcountry Down’s Syndrome Association.
According to LLF, nonprofits receive on average 250 percent more support from every small business employee than at mass retailers.
Local businesses take care of the community, and the community takes care of local businesses, Osborne said. It’s a circle.
To illustrate this cycling effect, for every dollar spent at a local store, $3 is put back into the community. For example, the employees at Wonder Works are members from the community; Osborne buys local bags; she advertises locally, and she gets things like having the store’s hardwood floors done by a local service. The money that comes into a local business is spent locally by that business and its employees.
Money spent at a mass retailer is sent back to that retailer’s corporate headquarters, which may be in Michigan or Wisconsin - who knows?
That’s not to say mass retailers are evil or unneeded.
What would a sandwich be without the bread?
Just that a sandwich, bread and all, would be a very sad and bland sandwich without that special sauce and those extra toppings.
For more information on LLF and upcoming Buy Local Week, visit  www.LowcountryLocalFirst.org.
To learn more about making the 10 percent shift— www.10percentShift.org/sc.